Uncle Jay

Last Thursday, I received a call from my Mom and sister that our Uncle Jay (her sister's husband) had passed away. He lived a great life and was 90 - but the loss certainly brought back memories of the times spent with my extended family.

Unlike many of my friends, I didn't grow up with a big extended family. My Grandparents either died before I was born or before I was 10. Since they came from Lithuania while they were teenagers, never to return, we didn't have the typical extended family. When friends talked about visiting Grandparents, we talked about visiting my Dad's two sisters - Aunt Vic and Aunt Mary (they never married and lived in the same house they were born in) and my Mom's sister - Auntie Anna (who also never married and took care of my Grandmother until her death). While the rest of the family lived near the "aunts" (PA, NY and MD), my Dad's siblings never married or never had children, and on my Mom's side, they did marry and have kids, but Mom was so much younger than her siblings that my cousins were getting married when I was still in elementary school! All but one... Uncle Jay and Aunt Vern.

I loved visiting them (we didn't do it very often as they lived on Long Island New York) - they had two kids (same ages as Sue and me) so we had a great time. They were always full of fun and seemed to live (by my standards and view) a glamorous life... the big city and all! I am not sure if it was because they "looked more like us" or that they were so engaged with us kids when we visited, but I will always have fond memories of them. It still brings smiles to my face when I think about our visits.

Like all looks-back, you remember the good times and wish you had spent more time together. I thought of them when we went to NYC just before our vacation in July but thought that there just wasn't enough time to go out to see them. I should have. I always have and always will think of them when I visit NYC. Perhaps the most vivid memory I have of Uncle Jay was his zest for life. He always had the next great idea - remember the t-shirts? - and big heart.

You will be missed, Uncle Jay - and I am not sure you ever knew how much you meant to me - by all who knew you.